Food processors in Libreville, Gabon, recently participated in a training on the use of provitamin A rich plantain flour to alleviate Vitamin A deficiency in vulnerable groups. IITA-Cameroon Visiting Scientist Apollin Fotso Kuate led the workshop, which took place on 30 September under the framework of the project—Enhancing nutritional quality of plantain food products through improved access to endophyte primed and high provitamin A plantain cultivars under integrated soil fertility management practices in Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. Forty-one participants (30 men and 11 women) from the National Consultation of Producers of Gabon (CNOP-GA), researchers from IRAF, WAVE program, and the Gabonese Food Security Agency attended the training under the plantain project funded by the European Union through the African Union.
The workshop’s first module focused on the provitamin A content of the plantain varieties found in Gabon, following analyses of green and unripe plantain samples. The second module focused on vitamin A sources and risk factors for vitamin A deficiency in the vulnerable group, particularly in children under five years of age, as well as post-harvest plantain management, promotion of plantain-based composite flour, the basics of food processing, and sun drying.